Category: News

A suspected container laden with arms has been intercepted by the Tin Can Island Area Command of the Nigerian Customs Service.

The suspected cargo was discovered in one of the terminals under the command during a routine examination

The Public Relations Officer of the Tin Can Island Area Command, Uche Ejesieme, confirmed the arrest.

“The interception was made during routine examination on Friday,” he said.

“Following this development, the command intimated the terminal operators and requested that the suspected container be transferred to our enforcement unit for 100% examination.”

He noted that further information on facts and figures are still sketchy, adding that comprehensive information would be made available after the 100% examination after which the command will make an official pronouncement.

The latest seizure is coming days after the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, asked police commanders and officers to brace up to the anticipated internal security challenges that the year 2022 will present.

IGP Baba had explained that 2022 would be very challenging because it precedes the 2023 general elections and the Force would be confronted with the management of threats associated with an active political space.

Yoruba Nation campaigner, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, may have been trapped in a prison in neighbouring Benin Republic, having spent exactly five months in detention since his arrest around 8pm on July 19, 2021, at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou.

Also, the Cour De’appal De Cotonou since the arraignment of Igboho on July 27, 2021, has not sat, fuelling speculations that the detention of Igboho is laced with political undertones.

His continued incarceration has also doused Yoruba Nation agitations in the last five months as his followers and associates have laid low, suspending secessionist rallies as was done in the South-West before the near-perpetual ordeal of the agitator.

Igboho’s mentor in the struggle, who is also an arrowhead for self-determination, Banji Akintoye, had since left Nigeria for Benin Republic after he got wind that the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), plotted his arrest.

The 86-year-old professor of history has not returned to Nigeria.

The Buhari regime in 2021 turned maddening heat on separatist agitators and descended on their arrowheads including Igboho who agitated for the South-West to pull out of the Nigerian State over perceived injustice and insecurity.

On July 1, 2021, around 2am, the Department of State Services stormed the Ibadan residence of Igboho in a Gestapo style, killing two of his associates and arresting 12 others.

The luxury cars and the house of the agitator in the Soka area of Oyo State were also riddled with bullets.

The DSS subsequently declared Igboho wanted for allegedly stockpiling arms to destabilise Nigeria under the pretext of secessionist agitation, an allegation he had since denied.

After about three weeks underground, Igboho, 49, found his way to Cotonou and planned to escape to Germany through an Air France Cotonou-Paris-Hamburg flight but the trip was botched as the Interpol at the airport arrested him and his German-citizen wife, Ropo.

The Beninese Government subsequently arraigned the agitator before the Cour De’appal De Cotonou on migration-related offences and for gunrunning but the court on July 27, 2021, ordered that Ropo be released while Igboho be remanded in prison.

Ropo, it was gathered, now shuttles between Germany where her children are based and Cotonou where her husband is being detained.

The court has not opened the case since then and all efforts by Igboho’s lawyers both in Nigeria and Benin Republic have not yielded in his release as the Buhari regime’s representatives in the Francophone West African country led by Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), continued to push for the extradition of the agitator.

Speaking with journalists, the spokesperson for Akintoye, Maxwell Adeleye, said the Yoruba self-determination group, Ilana Omo Oodua, led by the renowned scholar was optimistic that Igboho would be released.

“Benin Republic Government will soon toe the path of reasoning. We are hopeful that logic will prevail and Igboho will be released to go anywhere he wants to go because he has not committed any offence against the people of Nigeria and the Benin Republic,” he said.

19-year-old Iwaku Olatunji has been remanded in correctional facility for alleged burglary and stealing in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

The prosecutor, Inspector Adeshina alleged that, the teenager sometime in October 2021 at about 1:30am at Parakin Estate Ile-Ife broke into the dwelling house of Mr Kingsley Emmanuel to steal iPhone XR valued at N220,000 and fraudulently withdrew $5,000 from the BTC account.

He noted that the offences contravened Sections 411 and 412 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol. II Laws of Osun-State of Nigeria 2002.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the offences levelled against him while his counsel, Reuben Abeginigo made an oral bail application for his client.

Presiding Magistrate, Mr Elisha Aluko ordered that the defendant be remanded in correctional facility pending formal bail application.

He then adjourned the matter till January 25, 2022.

• Chief Ramon Adedoyin Family has pleaded with Inspector General of Police to ensure that Adedoyin is granted bail.
• “Chief Ramon Adedoyin has spent over 30 days in police detention since the reported death of late Mr. Adegoke in Hilton Hotel.
• “His only offence so far – if it is a crime – is that he owns the hotel despite all proven facts that he is not involved in its day-to-day operations.
• 
  “We cannot understand the rationale for his continued incarceration when he has not been found to have any hand in the unfortunate death of Mr Timothy Adegoke.
• 
  “His lawyers have expressed frustration about the bail process as the Police keep introducing one flimsy condition after the other each time the bail issue is raised.
• 
  “At this point, we are inclined to believe there is a powerful force behind his detention and we fear the worst could happen if the IG does not step in urgently, given Chief Adedoyin’s deteriorating health.
• 
  “We remain convinced that he has not committed any offence to warrant his over 30-day confinement in police custody, especially as investigations so far has not revealed anything criminal against his person. We, therefore, urge the Inspector General of Police to use his good office to either grant him bail or charge him to court.”

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun command, on Friday confirmed the death of three persons in an accident that involved two vehicles around the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway interchange.

The Ogun Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr Ahmed Umar, who confirmed the incident in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ota, Ogun, said two others sustained various degrees of injuries.

Umar explained that the unfortunate accident, which occurred at about 7. 02 a.m. involved four male adults and a lady waiting by the roadside to board a vehicle.

He said the lady, who was hit by one of the vehicles involved in the accident, died instantly.

He explained that in the course of making a U-turn at interchange on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, a Lexus ‘Tokunbo,’ used vehicle, with no registration number rammed into a Toyota Tundra pick-up with registration number AGL 254HB.

“The corpses of the victims have been deposited at Idera Hospital, Sagamu, while the survivors are receiving treatment at the same hospital,” he said.

The sector Commander, who blamed the accident on speeding and dangerous driving, cautioned motorists against speed violation and other critical offences, especially with the increase in vehicular movement at this period.

He also commiserated with the families of the crash victims and enjoined them to contact FRSC Sagama command for more information about the crash.

Amusa Rafiat, identified as the wife of Olalekan Odunare, a diploma holder who jumped into a lagoon at Epe in the Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State, says her husband had been suicidal for a long time and had spoken about his intention but no one took him seriously.

In a video shared online, Rafiat said her husband’s attitude had suddenly changed but everyone around him thought he was under the influence of hard drugs.

When asked if her husband takes hard drugs, she said he only used to take Arizona, a variant of marijuana.

She, however, said the late Olalekan had stopped taking the drug for some time before he committed suicide.

She said in the video: “My name is Amusa Rufiat from Oyo State but my parents reside here in Epe. My husband’s name is Abdulrahman Odunare Olamilekan.

“He had been speaking of it (suicide) even for some days but he was not monitored properly. If he was, the case would not have been as bad as this. No one took him seriously. They all thought he was under the influence of Colorado (hard drugs), so they didn’t even evaluate what he was saying. He didn’t take Colorado but he used to take Arizona but it had been long he took Arizona.

“Since the incident, I have not seen anyone from my husband’s family. I have only seen people from my family and I have no friends but whatever anyone has to give will go a long way. Like what he said before he died, that I shouldn’t allow his daughter to suffer. I plead with all Nigerians to help me.”

Olalekan was said to be a holder of an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) certificate and a worker at Alaro City, a mega estate along the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

He leaves a one-year-old baby behind

The dead body of the young National Diploma certificate holder, Lekan Odunare, who jumped into a lagoon in the Epe area of Lagos State on Tuesday morning, has been discovered.

Olamilekan’s body was found on Thursday, December 16. A video of Lekan sitting on the rails of a bridge before he dived into the waters has been making rounds on social media. Before he dived in, a man filming the scene was heard querying his intention.

Lekan, who is said to be a Ordinary National Diploma (OND) holder and a worker at Alaro City, a mega estate located along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, reportedly left behind a one-year-old child for his 19-year-old wife.

ODUDUWA NEWS has gathered that the popular market located in Balogun, Lagos state has been consumed in fire between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Marketers who came this morning with the hope of a promising day in anticipation of the festive season sales were heartbroken seeing their shops and goods worth millions of naira burnt to ashes.

Details later.

An high chief in Owo area of Ondo, Chief Elewere Tunde Ilori has been killed by unknown gunmen.

He was killed in his farm by unknown gunmen on Wednesday evening.

His gruesome murder has continued to generate reactions.

The police in the state have confirmed his killing and promised to fish out his killers

The Lagos State government has closed its case against Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James, better known as Baba Ijesha, who is facing trial over allegations of defilement.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Olayinka Adeyemi, the Lagos State Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), made this known on Wednesday after the cross-examination of the sixth prosecution witness by the defence.

Following the DPP’s statement, the defence counsel, Mr Kayode Olabiran, announced to the court that the defendant intended to file a no-case submission.

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo said, “We will take the no-case submission in the New Year; the court is rounding up.”

Earlier, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo said Baba Ijesha’s confessional statement to the police was admissible in evidence. She ruled that there was no evidence before the court, which proved that the embattled Nollywood actor was t*rtured into making the statement to the police.

“Sitting on the floor does not vitiate the confessional statement. The statement is found to be relevant and admissible,” the judge said.